Oversight authority examining Deloitte Cyprus over Abramovich assets

The public audit oversight board is taking action over allegations that Deloitte Cyprus helped conceal billions in assets belonging to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich through backdated documents. “The authority has been informed of the recent publications and is taking all necessary actions, within the framework of its legal responsibilities and obligations, with the aim of serving the public interest,” its director general Panos Prodromitis said on Wednesday. The allegations were published in a joint investigation by BBC Panorama, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), based on thousands of leaked emails and corporate documents. Allegations Deloitte Cyprus backdated documents The investigation alleges that Deloitte Cyprus advisers backdated documents presenting asset transfers as having taken place years earlier, potentially reducing tax liabilities and avoiding disclosure requirements under Cypriot law. Related Articles • Deloitte Cyprus accused of helping hide Abramovich’s billions One case concerned Amiscan Investments, a Cypriot company whose draft accounts for 2003 listed assets worth about €578 million, including yachts, aircraft and luxury property in France and Britain. An agreement prepared in 2006 but dated January 4, 2003, purported to transfer 19 subsidiaries to Kelvedon Worldwide, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. The investigation reported that Deloitte Cyprus reviewed the documents and considered them sufficient to remove the holdings from Amiscan’s accounts. When the accounts were approved in December 2006, the company reported assets of about €65,000. An email from a Deloitte Cyprus executive in January 2007 said Amiscan’s main priority was to disclose as little as possible about its subsidiaries, according to the investigation. A second case involved Electus Investments, a Cypriot company associated with assets worth more than €8.6 billion and ownership of Millhouse UK. Assets transferred to British Virgin Islands The investigation alleges that assets were transferred in 2006 to a British Virgin Islands company with the same name, with the transaction dated November 20, 2003, despite correspondence indicating it had been planned three years later. Electus subsequently reported assets of about €125,000 in its publicly filed accounts. The third case concerned Kravin Investments, which received about €2.6 billion in 2003 from the sale of Sibneft shares to Yukos. The investigation alleges that Deloitte Cyprus, MeritServus and Abramovich’s associates discussed making it appear that funds held in bank accounts had been transferred in 2003, potentially avoiding tax on interest income. Accounts filed in Cyprus showed total tax charges of about €13,000 for 2004 and 2005. MeritServus, a Limassol-based corporate services firm that managed much of Abramovich’s offshore company network, was part of Deloitte Cyprus until 2005. The firms continued working together after separating, according to the investigation. Britain sanctioned MeritServus and its former executive Dimitris Ioannides in 2023, alleging that complex corporate structures had concealed nearly €860 million of Abramovich’s assets. Ioannides declined to comment through his lawyers, citing health problems. When asked by the Cyprus Mail, Deloitte Cyprus has said it operates in accordance with applicable law but declined to comment on the specific allegations, citing the age of the documents. Abramovich’s lawyers have denied wrongdoing, saying there is no evidence he participated in, knew of or ordered the falsification of documents and that he relied on professional advisers. Thepolice assured the Cyprus Mail they would issue a statement on the matter, yet no such comment has been forthcoming at the time of publishing.